Wind-engine



A. THOMSON. Wind-Engine.

No 228,695. Patentedlune 8, I880.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER THOMSON, OF AMES, IOWA.

WIND-ENG|NE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 228,695, dated June 8,1880. Application filed December 24, 1879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALEXANDER THoMsoN, of Ames, in the county of Story and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Wind-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to the construction of the wheel, by which a facing of perforated sheet metal is made to answer for wind-sails; to the manner of governing the engine; to the manner of turning and keeping the wheel to the wind, and to the device for supporting and anchoring the whole machine to the.

tower.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters of reference indicate like parts, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my invention. Fig.2 is a side view of the turn-table and gear. Fig. 3 is a detached view of the ring with its lugs; and Fig. 4, a cross-section of the pipe, anchor, yoke, base, and supporting -plate. Fig. 5 is a view of a portion of the perforated metal facing. Fig. 6 is an edge view of the facing, showingthe angle of the blades or sails and the corrugated rings.

A is the frame, and is connected together at the top by a hollow rin g, Z, having projecting lugs e, the central planes of which pass through the axis of the ring. The timbers of the frame A are slit down the center to receive the lugs of the ring. Bolts pass through the tops of these timbers and through the lugs, screwing down, which secure all firmly together. This arrangement is for the purpose of tightening up the frame as the timbers shrink or otherwise become loose.

Through the ring Z a wrought-iron pipe, O, passes, which reaches down to the platform and rests thereon upon a plate of cast-iron or other metal. To the bottom of this pipe is attached an enlarged base, D, of cast-iron, which is bored out to form a bearing for the shaft or pump-rod, as the case may be.

Over the base D, and through which the pipe 0 passes, is placed a yoke, G, which is bolted down to the platform. This yoke keeps the base of the pipe 0 in position, and also forms an anchor to keep the whole machine from rising and flying away, the tendency to do which will be shown presently.

Upon the upper end of the pipe 0 is attached a head, B, which is so constructed that it always swings to one side of the pipe. This, together with the supporting-arm H of the wheel, gives to the pressure of thewind on the wheel leverage enough to keep it behind the tower and facing the wind.

The purpose of the head B is to support the gearing which transmits the motion from the wheel to the pump-rod, and also for supporting the wheel by means of the arm H. The

- arm H is made with a bend in it in the shape of a U, in order to allow the pinion M to run on the inner end of the wheel-shaft and gear with the beveled wheel L.

I I are bearings for a horizontal shaft, J, these bearings forming part of the head. On this shaft a beveled wheel, L, runs, and the arm H is also pivoted to it, and turns upward and concentric with the wheel L. The arm H is so provided with stops that it can only move through an angle of ninety degrees, allowing the wheel to stand vertically while in the wind and horizontal when entirely out of the wind. v

N is another pinion, supported on a shaft which runs in a bearing, 0, it being placed in the proper position to gear with the wheel L. On the back of this pinion, or on a crankwheel on the same shaft, a wrist-pin is inserted, which drives the connecting-rod P.

Q is a vane whose plane coincides or is parallel to the plane of the wind-wheel, and has a number of projecting fans on its face, the surfaces of which stand with their edges in the direction of the wind. The object of these fans is to keep the head H on the opposite side of the tower from the wind. wheel rises and approaches a horizontal position these fans become acting vanes, holding the mill in the proper position to face the wind on its return. The vane Q, is rigidly connected to the shaft J, as is also the supporting-arm of the wind-wheel, the shaft itself being free to move in its bearings I I. On one of the arms of the vane Q is a weight, R, which can be moved along the arm of the As the vane when required. T is another weight, which is also movable on its arm, the arm of which is also rigidly attached to the shaft J.

From the above -described connections it will be seen that the wind-wheel, the vane Q, with its weighted arm, and the weight T are all rigidly connected and move together. The object of the vane Q is to balance that portion of the pressure upon the upper part of the wheel (the wheel being behind the tower) which is unbalanced by a portion of the wind being cut off by the tower from the lower part, and also to overcome the leverage which the wind has on the wheel as it rises, due to the arm H.

The engine operates as follows: The wheel is free to move upward and forward, and its motion is such that the resistance due to the work being done by the pump or other machine produces a tendency to cause the windwheel to rise and turn over the beveled wheel L. The vane Q, with its weighted arm and the weight of the wind-wheel, together with the counter-weight T, are all so adjusted that, no matter at what angle the wheel stands, the force to turn the wheel back, so that its plane is perpendicular to the direction of the wind, is a constant quantity. This downward force is just great enough to run the pump at the required velocity. Now, should the force of the wind increase it would at the same time tend to increase the velocity of the wheel, but at the same time it would increase the amount of work being done by the pump; but since at the required velocity all the acting forces were in equilibrium, any additional force will be used up in raising the wheel upward and forward, thus turning it out of the wind until the required velocity is again reached. Thus the work to be done is the regulator of this engine.

It will be seen from the description and the operation of the engine that one component of the wind tends to lift the wheel from off the tower. It is to prevent this that the anchor-yoke is placed over the enlarged base of the pipe G and bolted down to the platform.

By putting a valve on the pipe leading from the pump or a friction-brake on the pump-rod, so as to create resistance, the wheel will rise to the horizontal position and be stopped, requiring no other attachments. Another advantage of this is that by putting a ball and stop-cock on the pipe in the water-tank it will stop the mill as soon as the tank is full, and will remain so until the water is withdrawn and more required.

The head B is made in the form of a box, as shown in Fig. 1, inside of which the gearwheels run. This box is filled with oil for the purpose of keeping the gear-wheels constantly lubricated. The outer edge of this boxed head forms a stop to keep the wind-wheel in a vertical position.

The construction of the wheel'is as follows:

The frame or spider of the wheel may be made in any of the ordinary ways. The wind-surface is made of sheet metal, of such shape and size as to cover the face of the wheel. In this sheet-metal face are cut concentric rows of radial perforations, intermediate and outside of which are formed annular concentric corrugated rings h, which stiffen the wind-surface. The entire surface between the perforations is formed into small curved blades or vanes g, the angle of whose curve diminishes from the center toward the periphery of the wheel, the inner blades being set at an angle of about fifty degrees. The blades are formed by cutting at right angles to the radial perforations and then bending the liberated edge forward and curving the blades thus formed to the angle required.

By thus constructing the wheel the entire surface thereof is utilized for the wind to act upon without any further attachments or guides, as shown at Figs. 1 and 4.

The rings between consecutive rows of buckets or sails are crimped in order to throw the sails forward and hold them in position. The rows of sails are made to stand at a less angle to the plane of rotation as they recede from the center, in order to get the greatest possible amount of work from the wind. The sails are also made very narrow, in order to provide against hurtful resistance on their backs, due to their rotary motion.

I claim- 1. A wind-wheel formed of concentric rows of sails or blades, the angles of which diminish from the center toward the periphery of the wheel.

2. A wind-wheel formed of sheet metal, having concentric rows of curved sails or blades, the angles of which diminish from the center toward the periphery of the wheel, substantially as described.

3. A wind-wheel formed of sheet metal and provided with curved concentric sails or blades and annular corrugated rings, substantially as set forth.

4.. A wind-wheel formed of sheet metal, having its entire surface converted into a series of small concentric sails or blades, curved forward, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

5. The ring Z, provided with lugs e e, in combination with the timbers A, split at their upper ends and secured thereto by bolts, in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

Y 6. The combination of the pipe 0, yoke G, and enlarged base D, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

7. In a wind-engine, the combination of the wheel, bent arm H, shaft J, and head B, substantially as described;

8. The combination of a wind-wheel with the pinion M and wheel L, running in the opposite direction to the wheel, as set forth, for the purpose of governing the engine, as described.

9. The combination of a wind-wheel with 11. The head B, provided with shaft-bear- IO the vane Q, (With its projecting fans,) with the ings and formed into a box for holding oil, as arm H, shaft J, weights R and T, for the purdescribed. pose of balancing the wheel with the work, as

5 set forth. ALEXANDER THOMSON.

10. The combination of the head B, with its bearings I I and O, with the rocking Witnesses: shaft J and pinions M N and wheel-L, as de- D. P. OOWL, scribed. Y L. BACON. 

